Casualty of War
by MushroomWings
Summary: The group returns to Kongo Bongo to a warm welcome home, but ti son becomes clear the demons that haunted them during the journey have begun to take their toll.
1. Homecoming

"OK, I'll be straigthforward with all of you," DK began, making the others look at him. "I've... kind of been texting Candy to keep her updated on the events that have been going on."

"OK, cool," Diddy shrugged.

"None of you are mad?"

"Why would we be?" Dixie asked. "At least someone else knows what's been going on in case something happened to us."

"Even the events on Hitobashira and Attria?" Diddy responded.

"Well, no not that far," DK replied. "The last thing I told her was that Sodoma had been kidnapped and we were going off to the Hitobashira to rescue her. I told her I would let her know when she was safe, but with everything that's happened, I haven't gotten the chance. I'm... actually doing that right now."

He showed them the phone screen, which was filled with a very long text message doing his best to give her the short hand of it.

"She's got to be worried sick," Diddy said. "It's been, what, almost a full day since we were there? You're gonna have a lot of apologizing to do."

"I know, I know. I also told her we should be back soon."

"Dixie!" Sodoma's voice called from the deck.

"Dixie, come up here! We wanna show you something!" Cherah's chimed in.

"I'd better go see what they're on about," Dixie said, standing up. "I'll come tell you when we're closer to the island, OK?" Both males nodded and she walked up to the top.

XIV

It was a few more hours before they finally docked back on Kongo Bongo.

As soon as he was off, Candy was up and dashing towards DK, jumping on him and squealing as she showered him with kisses. DK was nearly sent to the ground, giving the others a much-needed chance to laugh. Dixie spotted Tiny, Chunky, and Kiddy amongst the group and was almost immeditaley hug-attacked by them, along with Diddy.

"Hey, woah, wait, man," Funky said, making the others look at him. He gestured to the scars and scrapes the others had "What happened to you dudes?"

"You don't remember, Funky?" Candy asked, peeling herself off of DK. "They tried fending off the person who started the whole plot, but they had conjured up some powerful enemies, and they died fighting. The Coconut and the other stones couldn't completely heal their more serious wounds."

"Is that the same reason why Cranky is missing one of his shirt sleeves?" Lanky asked.

"Yes, it is," Cranky replied before anyone else could comment, a giant frown plastered on his face.

"Well, I'm just glad you're all back safe," Bluster said, appearing suddenly from the back. He placed his hands on his hips, pouting. "I hate to admit it, but everything was just so dull around here without DK and Diddy."

"Good to see you too, ya nut!" DK said, giving the snobby male a friendly punch to the arm.

"I'm just happy everyone is back safe," Kiddy said from where he sat on Chunky's shoulders. "I missed playing with Dixie!"

"Yep! All safe!" Dixie said a little forcedly.

"Eh, what?" Tiny asked, noticing.

"Long story."


	2. The Beacon

A/N: Well... I'd really rather try to edit this more, but I feel like I've dawdled enough with it for the time being.

XxXxXxXxX

It'd been a few days, but Sodoma had managed to make it through the hardship of not returning home to her father. At Hikari's suggestion, she had visited a therapist on the second day home, and the help was trying to help her work through what had happened. The ambassador was at her every beck and call, even if it was just to have someone in the room with her.

Now, Sodoma sat at the breakfast table in her home, Hikari once again at her side, but actually doing something in her current endeavor instead of just being in the same room. Papers littered the furniture in front of her,an array of different papers that one would find to contain demotions, promotions, and general reassignments. It would be a few more months before she officially became the island leader, but there was no use in not getting things put through early, especially when some of them deserved what they were getting.

"My lady?" Sodoma looked up at Hikari, who seemed fidgety. "I know you're busy with these papers, but I did have a question, if I might speak it."

"You know you never need my permission to speak your mind, Hikari," she responded. "Especially now that I am only just of age to take over as leader. I would very much like to avoid history repeating itself."

"Then, you don't mind me asking what is to become of me?" The teenager's head lifted from where it was looking at the papers.

"What do you mean?"

"I was sent here when I was younger as a beacon of good will between your family and mine, and was to remain as such until the personal tensions between the two caused in part because of my brother's marriage to your cousin were to die down. What is your stance on the situation?"

"Well, I think it's a petty. Tell me, Hikari, if there was someone on another island you desperately wanted to be with, who you loved and they loved you back, who made you happy in a dark time, would you leave everything you had at home to be with them?"

Hikari looked down, twiddling his fingers as he thought of his significant other. "Of course. I mean, if Don resigned, I'd follow him anywhere he went."

"That's why those tensions exist. They didn't like that she made that decision, and that's why you're here with me now. I'll admit, I was part of that at first, but after everything that happened over the last week and a half, I don't see why it was ever a problem. Which I guess takes me back to your original question."

"Whatever you decide, I'll do," he said.

"I am unsure at this time, but if you're willing, I have one more spot open for an assistant. Because I'm so young, the advisors want me to have a few, and all the others I've picked so far are from this town already," Sodoma replied. "As such, it'd be no problem for you to escape the island every now and then. Where you go, I would have to know so if we don't hear back from you we know where to look, but it'd be no problem. You've been here a long time."

Hikari let the words register for a moment, before a grin broke out on to his face.

"That sounds nice, Leader."


	3. Sunbeam

It was amazing the repairs to an island that could be done within a week's time, especially considering the brutality of the attack.

Halim was at his wits' end when Cherah finally returned home. She told him excitedly about Crocodile Isle and that she had gotten to meet her favorite TV star on Kongo Bongo, but he noticed by the way she acted that there was a significatn chunk in the middle cut out. After a few days, he managed to pull out what she had been told about the events on Hitobashira, and her panic at seeing new friend Sodoma's state when the rescue crew returned. She would not speak of after the point of the accursed glade, but he felt he had pushed enough. He figured she'd talk about that when she had finally processed it.

Right now, they were laying in the fields of the islands. Halim was telling her stories about her mother, and he had gone through several until he noticed the look her face, which appeared to be a cross between sadness and anger.

"What's wrong, sunbeam?" he asked.

"I... No. It's better to not say," Cherah replied. This made Halim sit up.

"Are you sure? If it's something concerning what you haven't told me about your advetures, I don't want to push, but you know I'm always willing to listen to you." Cherah twiddled her fingers.

"Well, when we were going to where the bad guys were from, we had to go through a magical gateway." Halim raised an eyebrow at this.

"Gateway?"

"Uh-huh. It needed someone who was close to the last jewel holder to have a huge enough emotional response to unlock the path."

"What?!" Halim shouted. "That's insane!"

Then it hit him.

"I saw Mama," Cherah said, taking the words right from his thoughts. "I should have been happy to see her. She didn't look sick. All I could do was be afraid, Uncle Halim."

"It was a natural response, nothing more."

"No! I was scared because I didn't want to have to relive learning of her passing and feeling that amount of despair! I didn't want to be the one who experienced that for the first time, with no one to help!"

She delved into sobs and Halim pulled her into his arms. They sat there for a good while, no words being exchanged in the process. Once Cherah had calmed down, Halim didn't let go. He didn't want to, not if her current problem was dealing with this.

"My words do not change why the emotion you felt happened, Cherah."


	4. Mother and Son

K. Rool had nearly collapsed when he faced his mother again. The adrenaline that had kept him from doing so previously was gone, and the toll the Core's essence being extracted and then returned all at once sent a shock to his body. It took a few days, but he was back to his normal self despite it. The Kremlings all believed in him a little more, even after learning exactly what had happened. He had helped defeat something that threatened their way of life and their queen, and thus this elevated him in their eyes, even if he had to work with their enemies.

After few days after fully recovering, he and his mother sat together, partaking in a cup of tea. He was telling her the full story, rather than the short version he'd given to the public, even right down to what he had learned on the trip. She was smiling, and seeing this side of her made him smile as well despite the contents of the story.

"One thing still bothers me, Mother," he said at the end of the tale. Corelia looked to him, curiosity in her eyes. "Why did you call Wrinkly an old friend?"

"Well," she responded, sipping thoughtfully. "When we were much younger, she helped me out, and I am very grateful to her. We write to each other every now and again, and if we're being honest, that's part of how she was able to make that school here for the brief period she did."

"Really? What did she do?"

"Oh, Kris." Corelia's smiled widened. "All you need to know about that is that you would not be here if her help had not come my way."


	5. Catharsis

A/N: I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE. I swear, so many things have killed my drive to write, school and just general overthinking of everything included. I've got this to finish, and the series can now be found on deviantART! There's no individual chapters, unfortunately, as it's so confusing to navigate for them, so each story is one whole entry. It's part of why I only read multi-chapter fanfics on here or Ao3.

Oh, yeah! Kongtale should also be up soon, and there's also a new story over on my Ao3 if you want to read it! It's a mafia/gangster AU, and is mostly in the world and character building phases right now, but feel free to check it out if it sounds interesting. It's called Starry Night's Blood. I really need to find a final name for it too...

But, without further ado, please enjoy this chapter that I was meaning to post a while back...

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Candy had honestly never seen her boyfriend in such a state.

Sure, there were times where he'd try to hide his thoughts and feelings. She would even go so far as to say there was still a severe amount of emotional baggage from his life that he had yet to get off his chest, but she would allow him to tell her when he was ready to. But at least those times he was open and honest, apologizing when he felt he had talked her ear off and only continuing when she let him know it was no bother to her. This time it was different.

DK had always seemed distracted by something ever since they returned to Kongo Bongo. She had just chalked it up to the events he had told her about through their texting, but something still bothered her about the time inbetween leaving for Hitobashirai and coming home, when he had stopped giving her regular updates on their adventures and went silent for two days. Candy honestly believed in that time he was dead, and was near inconsolable when he finally messaged her once more.

Something in the messages just didn't add up. There were either big holes in the story, or she was missing a lot of key information. She honestly hoped it was the latter, but if anything, she was happy he was home in one piece for the most part.

She took it upon herself to teach him to bake, a favorite past time of hers and something they could easily turn into a two-person event. DK became very invested in it, even seeming to have a natural talent for certain steps such as kneading dough. For once since the adventure was over, he had a genuine smile on his face, and this made her smile.

It was only when their goodies were cooking that he finally opened up to her once more.

"I can confide anything in you, can't I, Candy?" DK asked gently as they sat together on her couch.

"Of course, DK," she replied. "Whatever you want. I'm all ears, and mum on what you say."

And then it just came out.

Candy had been right: there was so much more than what he had told her, especially after they had gone to Crocodile Isle. She felt her heart crack in two as he spoke of the exact events on Hitobashirai Glade and the following nightmare that was the final confrontation in Attria City, and saw how serious his face had become. When he was done, she was silent. Any words that came to her could not do anything to express how she felt about the news he was giving her.

And then, for the first time in what seemed like years, he broke down sobbing.

This worried her the most. DK had always been an emotional and sensitive thing-she could hardly count the times he'd started crying over the littlest of things like someone sneezing softly, especially as a child-but he had never done this before. Usually he could ground himself before it got too bad. She wouldn't judge him.

But it did take until smoke wafted through the house that she realized how bad he needed this.

Both of them rushed to the kitchen, but could not saved their baked goods. They looked like charcoal now, really, so Candy sighed.

"Oh, well," she hummed soothingly as he nearly choked on his tears. "That's fine. We have more than enough dough to work with."

"I-I'm sorry," DK sniffed.

"It's OK, darling. You seemed like you needed it. I actually wouldn't hold it against any of you to do so after what you all have been through." She set the pan on the stovetop and walked to him, putting her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss. "Everything will be fine. Soon, it will all be back to normal. For now, why don't we get this smoke out of here and finish these up and just relax with each other?"

DK looked to her for a moment, before smiling and nodding.

"That sounds like a lovely idea."


End file.
